This Slate article makes some good points about Obama's move on immigration. "Leads with his fists"

[AlinPA]

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/11/president_obama_wants_to_hit_republicans_hard_on_immigration_he_is_no_longer.html

<clip>…the president actually believes in the underlying policy and the value of protecting up to 5 million undocumented immigrants. Democrats believe that delay will only create calls for more delay and more inaction. By forcing the confrontation now, the president takes immediate action to help immigrant families and still puts political pressure on the GOP. Republican leaders now have to temper their reaction by reining in in their members calling for impeachment or another set of budget confrontations, perhaps even a government shutdown, which could backfire as the last one did. At the moment, the risk of a shutdown looks remote, but the challenge is larger than just avoiding a shutdown. Republicans also have to be smart about how they undo the president’s actions, making it an argument about presidential overreach and not an opportunity for them to be painted as inflexible on the issue.
President Obama’s new, muscular position on immigration is the best evidence of his newfound freedom that has come after his party’s big loss at the polls. He is no longer holding his fire to protect Democrats up for re-election in red states. (Some of his aides believe the restraint not only irritated him but led to the weak outcome.) This will likely be the first of few brawls in the president’s final years in office. Apparently, he’s learned that the best way to avoid becoming a lame duck is with your fists.<end clip>

[lamp_shade]

1. Excellent. Thumbs way up. n/t